Big 12 Conference Baseball Awards

Although the Big 12 Baseball Tournament was postponed a day in response to the Moore tornado, the conference still announced its awards this morning. Kansas State cleaned up, a fitting reward for a season in which the team could fairly be said to have dominated the league.

Wildcat 2B Ross Kivett was named Big 12 Player of the Year, closer Jake Matthys nabbed Freshman of the Year honors, and Brad Hill completed K-State's sweep of men's team Coach of the Year honors. CF Jared King was named Scholar Athlete of the Year, an honor he'll share with TCU infielder Jantzen Witte. The other individual awards went to Harrison Musgrave of West Virginia, the conference Pitcher of the Year, and KU closer Jordan Piche' took home Newcomer of the Year honors.

Seven Wildcats were named to the All-Conference first team. Kivett, Matthys, and King are joined by 1B Shane Conlon, SS Austin Fisher, C Blair DeBord, and Tanner Witt was named as the utility player. The Cats received no second team nods, because, well, when you put seven guys on the first team you don't really have many guys left for the second team. (OF Jon Davis did receive honorable mention, however.) The remainder of the first team consisted of Musgrave and Piche' along with Baylor 1B Cal Towey and DH Nathan Orf (the only repeat first-team selection from last year), Oklahoma 1B Matt Oberste and SP Jonathan Gray, Oklahoma State OF Zach Fish and SP Vince Wheeland, Texas OF Mark Payton, and TCU SP Preston Morrison.

Second team honors were dominated by the Oklahoma schools, with IF Tanner Krietemier, C Victor Romero, UT Randy McCurry, and SP Jason Hursh representing Oklahoma State while the Sooners provided OFs Craig Aiken and Max White, SP Dillon Overton, and RP Jacob Evans. The second team was filled out with Baylor IF Lawton Longford and RP Crayton Bare, TCU's Witte and RP Alex Young, Texas Tech IF Jake Barrios, Kansas OF Michael Suiter, Texas SP Dillon Peters, and West Virginia's tandem of 1B Ryan McBroom and DH Matt Frazer.

Kansas State had two players named to the All-Freshman team, with SP Levi MaVorhis joining Matthys. OU's Evans was the other first-team All-Conference selection to also be named All-Freshman; second-teamers Aiken from OU and Young from TCU also made the cut. Two other Sooners, P Ralph Garza and C Anthony Hermelyn, were named, as were to other Horned Frogs in P Riley Ferrell and OF Boomer White. Oklahoma State IF Donnie Walton, Texas IF C.J. Hinojosa, and Texas Tech DH Jarrard Poteete round out the squad.